Pete Doherty (born January 18, 1945) is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

and television commentator known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

The Duke of Dorchester.

Professional wrestling career

Doherty began his career in the 1970s, wrestling for

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the w ...

Sr. in the

World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953 to 1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing p ...

(WWWF). At the time, McMahon's territory consisted of only the Northeast states, and Doherty wrestled all over in small and large venues. Doherty wrestled under the name, "The Duke of Dorchester" paying homage to his hometown of

Dorchester, Massachusetts Dorchester (colloquially referred to as Dot) is a Boston neighborhood comprising more than in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester ...

. The Duke was generally relegated to

undercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

status either wrestling against the stars of his era or against other undercard " jobbers". The Duke had a short lived run as a masked wrestler named The Golden Terror and was managed by

Captain Lou Albano Louis Vincent Albano (July 29, 1933 – October 14, 2009) was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor, who performed under the ring/stage name "Captain" Lou Albano. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1 ...

. Although, The Duke was used as "enhancement talent" in the WWF, The Duke scored upset victories against fellow preliminary wrestlers like Fred Marzino and

Jose Luis Rivera Marcelino Rivera Alicea (born August 6, 1960), better known as Jose Luis Rivera, is a retired Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is notable for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (today known as WWE) where he was also known as Conquis ...

, including The Duke defeating Marzino 28 times with no wins scored by Marzino. The Duke was known in the ring for his long blond hair, missing teeth and wild mannerisms. The Duke's constant, in ring banter and screaming, could be heard in the last row of the arena. His signature "move" was getting stuck in a

full nelson A nelson hold is a grappling hold which is executed by one person from behind the opponent, generally when both are on the mat face down with the opponent under the aggressor. One or both arms are used to encircle the opponent's arm under the armpi ...

and then placing his legs on the top rope in order for his opponent to have to break the hold. The end result was that the opponent would release and The Duke would land on his head. In 1985, The Duke appeared on WWF's '' Saturday Night's Main Event I''. The Duke lost a match to the

Junkyard Dog Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 1, 1998) was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as the Junkyard Dog (or JYD), a nickname h ...

. In 1987, although being a heel, The Duke had a short feud with fellow heel wrestler

King Kong Bundy Christopher Alan Pallies (November 7, 1955 – March 5, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, actor and stand-up comedian, better known by his wrestling gimmick and ring name, King Kong Bundy. Under this gimmick, he portrayed a pugnacious, ...

. In addition to feuding with Bundy, The Duke had several grudge matches against the likes of

S. D. Jones Conrad Efraim (March 30, 1945 – October 26, 2008) was an Antiguan professional wrestler best known by his ring name, Special Delivery Jones or S. D. Jones (sometimes referred to as S. D. "Special Delivery" Jones) from his time (1974–1990) in ...

, "Leaping" Lanny Poffo and

Scott Casey Scott Casey (born March 19, 1947) is an American retired professional wrestler, best known for his stint in the World Wrestling Federation between 1987 and 1990. Professional wrestling career Early career Scott Casey began his wrestling caree ...

, even gaining a win over Poffo in his hometown of Boston. In fact, his feud with Jones came about due to him getting a fluke win after a losing streak the announcers alleged had crossed the 300 mark. In the late 1980s, Vince McMahon put Doherty in the broadcasting booth with The Duke announcing several WWF events around the US, but mostly in Boston as a

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...

commentator, usually alongside the likes of

Gorilla Monsoon Robert James Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play commentator, and booker. Monsoon is famous for his run as a villainous super-heavyw ...

and

Lord Alfred Hayes Alfred George James Hayes (8 August 1928 – 21 July 2005) was an English professional wrestler, manager and commentator, best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation between 1982 and 1995 where he wa ...

in Boston and

Bruce Prichard Bruce Prichard (born March 7, 1963) is an American professional wrestling executive, booker, and producer and a former manager, commentator, and occasional professional wrestler. In addition to his corporate roles with WWE, Prichard has also a ...

and

Mike McGuirk Michelle Kathleen McGuirk (born March 16, 1958) is an American professional wrestling personality, best known as a ring announcer for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1986 through 1994. She is the daughter of professional wrestler Leroy Mc ...

(and sometimes

Bobby "The Brain" Heenan Raymond Louis Heenan (November 1, 1944 – September 17, 2017) was an American professional wrestling manager, color commentator, wrestler, and comedian. He performed with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation ...

) around the country. The Duke's biggest win came on July 14, 1990 when he pinned former tag team champion Haku at the

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (late ...

. In September 1991, he competed in the

King of the Ring King of the Ring was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. The PPV event was held annually in June and was established in 1993 when the promotio ...

tournament as a substitute for "The Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich, but was eliminated in the first round when he was defeated in just 33 seconds by Bret "Hitman" Hart. The Duke retired from wrestling in 1997 making occasional appearances at local events including the WWF's final event at the old Boston Garden. In April 2010, Doherty was inducted into the

New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame The New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and Fan Fest is an American professional wrestling hall of fame. It was established in January 2008 to honor select wrestling personalities who have made significant contributions to professional wrestlin ...

Personal life

Doherty now resides with his wife Joan in

Falmouth, Massachusetts Falmouth ( ) is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 32,517 at the 2020 census, making Falmouth the second-largest municipality on Cape Cod after Barnstable. The terminal for the Steamship Authority ferri ...

. A play based on Doherty's life appeared at the

New York International Fringe Festival The New York International Fringe Festival, or FringeNYC, was a fringe theater festival and one of the largest multi-arts events in North America. It took place over the course of a few weeks in October, spread on more than 20 stages across seve ...

in 2013

Awards and accomplishments

**Class of 2010

References

onlineworldofwrestlingboston.com
*

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duke Of Dorchester 1945 births American color commentators American male professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestlers from Massachusetts Professional wrestling announcers Sportspeople from Boston 20th-century professional wrestlers